Astronauts and robots seal deal with a handshake

While having the commander of the International Space Station, Daniel Burbank, shake hands with Robonaut on Wednesday to signal the first handshake between a human and a humanoid – in space, no less, is historical, it surely is nowhere near the historic level when a human first set foot on the moon all those years ago. The Robonaut from NASA was launched in the shuttle Discovery back in 2011 as part of an experiment that looks into the possibility of having a robot in space assist astronauts around the space station. Ground controllers uploaded the right software which allowed the robot to extend its right hand, with fingers outstretched. Burbank took the mechanical hand into his own, and pumped it like any other human would in a firm handshake. You cannot escape now, Robonaut! You will need to deal with all the chores on board from now on.